Understand your own record first
SIM Card Ownership Details: What Your Record Actually Contains
The only legal way to see sim card ownership details in Pakistan is to check the record held against your own CNIC — through the SIM Information System’s SMS shortcode 668, the free cnic.sims.pk web portal, or the self-check code 667 — because every one of these tools is built to return your own subscriber data, and none of them, nor any other website or app, can legally hand back another person’s name, address, or CNIC from a phone number. This page explains what fields actually sit inside a SIM ownership record, how that record gets created in the first place, and what to do if the one attached to your own CNIC turns out to be wrong.
The data model, explained
What Information Is Actually In a SIM Card Owner Record
Put together, Pakistan’s SIM self-check tools reveal six distinct pieces of information about a registered SIM: the registered name, a partly masked CNIC number, the IMSI, the activation date, the connection type, and the issuing network — and no single free self-check tool shows you all six at once.
People searching for “sim card number details” or “sim card owner information” are usually picturing one unified database screen that spits out a name and address the moment a number is typed in. That screen does not exist for the public, and it is worth being precise about what does exist instead. Based on what PTA’s own self-check tools return and what PTA has published about SIM registration, a SIM sold in Pakistan is associated, at the point of sale, with information spanning these six fields:
- Registered name — the full name on the CNIC used to purchase the connection.
- Masked CNIC — the 13-digit national identity number, with several digits hidden when displayed back to the subscriber.
- IMSI — the International Mobile Subscriber Identity, a unique number tied to the SIM chip itself, distinct from the phone number.
- Activation date — the date the connection was switched on against that CNIC.
- Connection type — whether the SIM is registered as voice, data, or a hybrid voice-and-data connection.
- Network — the operator that issued it: Jazz, Zong, Ufone (which now also carries Telenor’s book of business following the amalgamation of Telenor Pakistan into PTML, completed 1 July 2026), or SCO for Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan.
Here is the part that trips most people up: three of the free self-check tools built around this record deliberately show only a slice of it, and each slice is different. Checking sim card details is not one action — it is four separate, narrower actions, and knowing which one you actually need saves a lot of wasted SMS credit.
The counts-only slice: 668 and cnic.sims.pk
Both the 668 SMS shortcode and the cnic.sims.pk web portal — which brands itself on-screen as the “PMD SIM Information System” (we have verified this brand name first-hand; no PTA publication we could find spells out what “PMD” stands for, so we state the on-screen name as observed rather than guess at an expansion) — query the exact same underlying counts. Neither returns a name, a phone number, or an activation date. What comes back is a table: Network, Voice+Data SIMs, Data Only SIMs, and Total SIMs, with one row per operator shown even when the count is zero — Jazz, Telenor, Ufone/PTML, and Zong. Ufone’s row folds in ONIC connections, and SCO connections (serving Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan) do not get a separate row either — the table simply does not display an SCO line at all. That is genuinely useful for answering “how many SIMs are active on my CNIC right now,” which is most of what “sim card ownership details” searches are actually trying to find out — but it will never answer “who owns this number.”
The name-and-record slice: 667
Sending the word “MNP” to 667 is the one self-check method that returns an actual name. It shows the registered name, a partly masked CNIC, the IMSI, the activation date, and the connection type — but only for the SIM physically sending that message. It has no field for entering a phone number, which means there is no way, under any framing or workaround, to point 667 at somebody else’s connection. If your goal is to see “the name of sim card owner” for a line you actually hold, 667 is the tool; if the number belongs to someone else, no version of 667, or any other legal tool, will do that for you.
For a full walkthrough of running these checks step by step — the exact menus, the reCAPTCHA, what the result screen looks like on cnic.sims.pk — see our dedicated SIM owner details online check portal walkthrough. This page focuses on the record itself: what it contains and how it came to exist, not the click-by-click mechanics of retrieving it.
Four tools, four different jobs
How To Check SIM Card Details Against Your Own CNIC
There are four separate official tools for checking sim card number details against your own identity, and mixing them up is the single most common mistake — each returns a different slice of the record, at a different cost, through a different channel.
Because these tools are frequently confused with one another in casual conversation and in low-quality guides circulating online, it helps to see them laid out side by side before deciding which one actually answers your question.
| Method | What it returns | Cost | Access requirement |
|---|---|---|---|
| 668 (SMS) | Per-operator SIM count only — no names, numbers, or dates | ~Rs 2 incl. tax per query | A live Pakistani SIM to send the SMS from |
| cnic.sims.pk (web) | Same dated counts table as 668, one row per network | Free | Any internet connection, works worldwide, reCAPTCHA required |
| 667 “MNP” (SMS) | Your own registered name, masked CNIC, IMSI, activation date, connection type | Standard SMS rate | Sent from the specific SIM being checked — cannot target another number |
| 76367 “N” + number (SMS) | Current network of a given number only (Jazz/Zong/Telenor/Ufone) — never a name | Rs 2 + tax | Any Pakistani SIM; the target number is not required to consent or respond |
Notice that only one of the four — 667 — ever discloses a name, and it only ever discloses the sender’s own. The other three are count or network tools by design. If what you actually want is a step-by-step guide to running the cnic.sims.pk portal check — which tab to choose, how the CNIC and Foreign ID tabs differ, and what a completed results table looks like — that detail lives on our SIM owner details online check portal walkthrough, and our broader CNIC SIM check guide covers the 668 shortcode in the same depth. This page is deliberately the companion to both: it explains the record those tools are querying, not the click path to reach it.
A quick note on 76367
The 76367 shortcode answers a narrower, often-searched question: “which network does this number belong to?” Send “N” followed by the 11-digit number to 76367 and you get back Jazz, Zong, Telenor, or Ufone — nothing more. It is genuinely useful before porting a number or dialling an unfamiliar prefix, but it is frequently mistaken for an owner-lookup tool because it does accept someone else’s number as input. It will never return a name, CNIC, or address regardless of whose number you enter.
Where the record comes from
How a SIM Registration Record Is Actually Created
A SIM ownership record is not typed into a form — it is created the moment your fingerprint is verified online against NADRA’s database through PTA’s Multi Random Finger Biometric Verification System, officially named MBVS.
Understanding this step answers one of the most common underlying questions behind “details number sim card” searches: how did my CNIC end up attached to this exact record in the first place? The process, as PTA has published it on its own Biometric Verification page, works like this:
- Present your CNIC. You take your original CNIC to an authorised Customer Service Centre (CSC), an operator franchise, or a registered retailer — not any shop that happens to sell SIM cards, but one licensed for biometric registration.
- Give up to two fingerprint impressions. PTA’s rule caps this at a maximum of two successful thumb or finger impressions, taken on an authorised MBVS device at that outlet.
- Real-time verification against NADRA. The device performs online verification directly against NADRA’s records — matching your fingerprint to the CNIC number you presented — before the transaction is allowed to proceed.
- The record is written. Once verification succeeds, the system creates the six-field record described earlier: your name (as it appears on your CNIC), the CNIC number itself, a freshly generated IMSI for the SIM chip, today’s date as the activation date, the connection type you selected, and the issuing network.
This same MBVS process, PTA confirms, is not limited to first-time purchases. It is required for new SIM purchases, duplicate SIM issuance, ownership changes, mobile number portability (MNP), periodic re-verification drives, and SIM disowning — meaning every one of those actions re-touches your biometric record rather than relying on old paperwork.
Why biometrics, not just a photocopy
Older SIM registration regimes relied on photocopied CNICs and manual data entry, which is exactly what allowed a shop assistant to register a SIM against a customer’s CNIC without their informed consent, or register a second SIM using the same photocopy left over from a legitimate purchase. Real-time biometric matching against NADRA closes that gap for genuine outlets — which is also precisely why fraudsters have shifted to imitating the process itself rather than trying to forge paperwork, a warning we cover in detail further down this page.
Protection, not inconvenience
Why SIM Owner Information Is Masked and Protected By Law
Fields in your SIM record are masked and access-restricted because Pakistani law treats a person’s identity information — their CNIC, activation history, and subscriber details — as legally protected, not as a public record anyone can query.
This is the direct answer to “what details does PTA store about my SIM” combined with the follow-up question almost everyone asks next: why can’t I just see it all, plainly, whenever I want? The short answer is that you can see your own record — the masking exists for disclosure to others, not for your own self-check. When you run a 667 check, you still see your own name in full; what stays partly hidden even from you, by design, is the full unmasked CNIC string — a masking convention built into these self-check tools themselves, not a full-disclosure setting anyone, including the CNIC holder, can switch off.
The legal foundation for this is PECA 2016 — the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act — and specifically Section 16, which criminalises obtaining or using another person’s identity information without authorisation. That is the same provision that makes any “sim owner lookup” service illegal to operate and illegal to use, and it is why no operator, no PTA-adjacent website, and no independent app can build a public search box that takes a phone number and returns a name. The only lawful route to full, unmasked disclosure of a specific person’s subscriber information is a police officer or investigation agency acting under a formal PECA 2016 investigation, following the Investigation Rules 2018 — a process with judicial oversight, not a service anyone can pay for.
What this means if you are trying to identify a caller
If someone is harassing or defrauding you by phone, the masking on ownership records is not the obstacle it might feel like — it is the same protection that stops that person, or anyone else, from pulling your details the same way. The lawful path is to report the number to your operator or file a complaint with the NCCIA at their 24/7 helpline, 1799 (launched 3 June 2025, taking over cybercrime investigation duties from FIA’s Cybercrime Wing in April 2025), or through complaint.nccia.gov.pk. If the number is retired or you have seen “1991” quoted elsewhere as the cybercrime helpline, that number is wrong and no longer in service — 1799 is the current one.
Fixing your own record
When Your SIM Card Details Are Wrong — Fraud, Misregistration, and the Disowning Fix
If a count check shows more active SIMs against your CNIC than you actually own, the fix is called disowning — a fixed process with a capped fee of Rs 200, waived entirely once fraud is confirmed, in force since 1 January 2024.
There are three common ways a record ends up attached to your CNIC without your full knowledge or consent, and knowing which one applies changes what evidence you should bring to the operator:
- Shop mis-registration. A retailer registers a second or third SIM against your CNIC using a photocopy you provided for a different purchase, sometimes to hit a sales quota, sometimes to resell an already-registered connection.
- Family or household sharing. A relative genuinely asked to use your CNIC for a connection and you agreed at the time, but you have since lost track of it — not fraud, but still worth formally disowning if you no longer want it counted against your 8-SIM cap.
- Identity misuse from a leaked or stolen CNIC copy. A CNIC photocopy submitted for an unrelated purpose (a loan application, a rental agreement, a job application) is reused without your knowledge to register a SIM.
Whichever situation applies, the process to correct it is the same:
- Confirm the count. Run a 668 SMS or cnic.sims.pk check to see the per-network totals and identify which operator shows an unexpected SIM.
- Visit that operator’s Customer Service Centre in person with your original CNIC — not a photocopy — since biometric re-verification is required for the disowning transaction itself.
- Request disowning and, if you believe it is fraudulent, say so explicitly and ask for the fraud waiver rather than paying the standard fee upfront.
- Pay the fee if applicable. The fee is capped at Rs 200; if the operator investigates and confirms fraud, that fee is waived entirely, under the PTA rule in force since 1 January 2024.
It is also worth knowing the boundaries around getting a brand-new SIM if yours needs replacing: new-SIM sales are barred nationwide between midnight and 6am, in force since 19 May 2026, and buying a second new SIM in a short span triggers roughly a 7-day wait, a rule in force since January 2024. Neither of these restrictions applies to disowning an existing, unwanted connection.
Know the real threat
The PTA Fraud Warning Every SIM Holder Should Know
PTA has publicly warned that fraudsters try to collect fingerprints on unauthorised machines or paper “in the garb of government officials,” and separately disclosed that roughly 85% of SIMs used in fraud cases belong to female CNIC holders.
These two facts, both sourced directly to PTA’s published biometric verification guidance, describe the real mechanism behind most fraudulent SIM registration — not a database hack, but a person convinced to place their finger on a device outside a genuine, authorised outlet. Someone posing as a government surveyor, a “free SIM update” canvasser, or a door-to-door verification agent asks for a fingerprint on a portable scanner, and that impression is later used to register a SIM the victim never sees.
The 85% statistic matters because it points to where the actual vulnerability concentrates: women CNIC holders, who PTA’s own data shows are disproportionately targeted, often through exactly this kind of informal, out-of-outlet fingerprint collection rather than through any weakness in the MBVS system itself when it is used correctly.
✅ You CAN (legal & safe)
- Give your fingerprint at a Customer Service Centre, operator franchise, or registered retailer with a visible, authorised MBVS device.
- Ask any door-to-door visitor requesting a fingerprint for their outlet’s official registration or licence details before agreeing.
- Run a 668 or cnic.sims.pk count check periodically to catch unauthorised registrations early.
- Report a suspicious fingerprint request to PTA’s helpline, 0800-55055, or via complaint.pta.gov.pk.
🚫 You must AVOID (illegal / risky)
- Giving a fingerprint to anyone visiting your home or workplace claiming to be from PTA, NADRA, or an operator without verified credentials.
- Handing over a photocopy of your CNIC to an unregistered shop “just to check something.”
- Assuming a SIM count is fine without checking, simply because you have not bought a new one recently.
- Paying any third party who claims they can “fix” or “check” your SIM record faster than the operator’s own CSC.
Not just a subscriber problem
Operators Are Accountable Too — The Rs 38.9 Million Jazz Fine
PTA fined Jazz Rs 38.9 million, reported on 31 August 2026 by Business Recorder and Daily Pakistan, after finding the operator’s documentation incomplete for nearly 400 corporate SIMs issued in one company’s name without proper authorisation.
This case is worth including on a page about SIM ownership records because it corrects a common misconception: that only individual subscribers, or dishonest retail shop staff, are ever on the hook when a SIM registration goes wrong. PTA’s investigation found the documentation supporting these corporate SIMs was “incomplete” and lacking “mandatory corporate authorisations and end-user credentials” — meaning the record-creation process itself had been short-circuited on the operator’s side, not just abused by an outside fraudster.
PTA stated explicitly in its ruling that “an operator’s responsibility does not end once a corporate SIM is issued,” and that operators cannot delegate verification responsibility to corporate customers or sales channels. Jazz was ordered to pay the fine within 30 days of the ruling. For anyone whose SIM ownership record shows unexpected corporate or bulk-issued connections, this ruling is a useful reference point: it confirms that PTA does actively audit and penalise operators for exactly this kind of record failure, and that raising a documentation complaint with the operator directly is a legitimate, PTA-recognised avenue — not a dead end.
Away from Pakistan, still on record
Overseas Pakistanis and Other Edge Cases
Your SIM ownership record does not disappear when you leave Pakistan, and PTA reports that roughly 60% of cnic.sims.pk’s web-based portal queries already come from overseas Pakistanis checking exactly this.
Because 668 requires a live Pakistani SIM to send the SMS from, it is effectively unavailable once you are abroad without a local number. The cnic.sims.pk portal fills that gap: it works from any country, needs no app or login, and returns the same dated counts table over the open internet.
Beyond checking, PTA has also built a dedicated online facility — available through PTA’s own website and through cellular operators’ websites — specifically for overseas Pakistanis to regularise or block extra SIMs and connections registered against their CNIC without needing to visit a CSC in person. PTA’s general helpline for this and related queries is 0800-55055.
Foreign nationals and POC holders
The 8-SIM cap that applies to CNIC holders (5 voice + 3 data, set by the Supreme Court of Pakistan on 5 November 2015) is different for foreign nationals and Pakistan Origin Card (POC) holders, who are capped at 2 SIMs. The cnic.sims.pk portal reflects this distinction with a separate “Foreign ID” tab alongside its CNIC tab, so a foreign national or POC holder checking their own record should select that tab rather than the CNIC one.
Apni zaban mein
Aasan Lafzon Mein Samjhein
Agar aap “sim card ownership details” ya “sim owner information” search kar rahe hain, to sabse pehli baat yeh samajhna zaroori hai: koi bhi legal tareeqa kisi ajnabi ka naam ya CNIC uske number se nahi nikal sakta. Jo bhi website ya app yeh claim kare, woh ya to fraud hai ya phir illegal kaam kar rahi hai, aur PECA 2016 ke Section 16 ke tehat is mein doni taraf — dene wala aur lene wala — dono qanooni musibat mein pad saktay hain.
Jo cheez aap qanooni tor par kar saktay hain woh hai apni CNIC par register SIMs ka record khud check karna. Iske liye teen tareeqay hain: 668 par apna 13-digit CNIC bhej kar sirf counting maloom hoti hai, cnic.sims.pk website par bhi wohi counting free mein mil jati hai, aur 667 par “MNP” likh kar bhejne se aapka apna naam, aadha chupa hua CNIC, aur activation date sameet poora record wapas aata hai — lekin sirf usi SIM ka jis se aap SMS bhej rahe hain.
Agar record check karne par pata chale ke kisi ne aapke CNIC par bina bataye extra SIM register kar rakhi hai, to iska hal “disowning” kehlata hai. Iski fees sirf Rs 200 tak capped hai, aur agar fraud sabit ho jaye to yeh fees bhi maaf ho jati hai. Lekin yaad rahe: koi bhi SIM apni activation date se 365 din ke andar disown ya transfer nahi ho sakti — yeh ek fixed lock hai. Aur sabse zaroori baat: apna fingerprint sirf authorised Customer Service Centre ya registered retailer par hi dein, kyunke PTA ne khud khabardar kiya hai ke fraudster log “government officials” ka bhais badal kar ghar ghar ja kar fingerprint le lete hain.
Quick answers
Frequently asked questions
What information is in a SIM card owner record in Pakistan?
Put together, the self-check tools available in Pakistan reveal six pieces of information about a SIM: the registered name, a partly masked CNIC number, the IMSI, the activation date, the connection type (voice, data, or hybrid), and the issuing network. No single free public tool shows every field at once — 668 and cnic.sims.pk return counts only, while 667 reveals your own name, masked CNIC, IMSI, and activation date.
Can I check someone else’s SIM card owner details using their phone number?
No. There is no legal public tool, app, or paid service that returns another person’s name, CNIC, or address from a phone number. Obtaining someone else’s identity information without authorisation is a criminal offence under PECA 2016, Section 16, punishable by up to three years’ imprisonment, a fine of up to Rs 5,000,000, or both.
What is the difference between 668 and cnic.sims.pk?
Both check the same underlying SIM Information System, but 668 is an SMS code (send your 13-digit CNIC, no dashes) that only works from a live Pakistani SIM and costs around Rs 2, while cnic.sims.pk is a free web portal that works worldwide with no login. Neither shows a name — both return only a dated per-network SIM count.
Does 667 show me someone else’s SIM information?
No. Sending “MNP” to 667 checks only the SIM physically sending the message — it does not accept a phone number as input, so it can never be pointed at someone else’s connection under any framing. It returns that sender’s own registered name, a partly masked CNIC, IMSI, activation date, and connection type.
How is a SIM card registered to my CNIC?
Registration happens through the Multi Random Finger Biometric Verification System (MBVS): you present your CNIC at an authorised Customer Service Centre, franchise, or registered retailer, give up to two thumb or finger impressions on an authorised MBVS device, and the system verifies your identity against NADRA online in real time before the record is created.
Why is my CNIC number partly masked when I check my SIM record?
Masking protects subscriber identity information from casual exposure, in line with the identity-protection intent of PECA 2016. Full, unmasked disclosure of a specific person’s subscriber information can lawfully be required only by a police officer or investigation agency acting under a formal PECA 2016 and Investigation Rules 2018 investigation — never through a public or paid checking service.
What do I do if a SIM is registered in my name without my knowledge?
First run a 668 or cnic.sims.pk count check to confirm the extra SIM, then visit your operator’s Customer Service Centre with your original CNIC to disown it. The disowning fee is capped at Rs 200 and is waived entirely once fraud is confirmed, under a PTA rule in force since 1 January 2024.
How much does it cost to disown an unauthorised SIM?
The disowning fee is capped at Rs 200 under a PTA rule in force since 1 January 2024, and that fee is waived completely once the operator confirms the SIM was fraudulently registered against your CNIC. You should never be charged more, and you should never need to pay an outside “agent” to do this for you.
Can I disown a SIM immediately after buying it?
No. Under a PTA advisory effective 24 May 2026, a SIM cannot be disowned or transferred within 365 days of its own activation date — this is a fixed lock, not a flexible window, and it applies regardless of who is trying to disown it or why.
What does PTA warn about fingerprint fraud?
PTA has publicly warned that fraudsters try to collect fingerprints on unauthorised machines or paper “in the garb of government officials.” Biometric impressions for SIM registration should only ever be taken on an authorised MBVS device at a genuine Customer Service Centre, franchise, or registered retailer — never hand over a fingerprint anywhere else.
Is it legal for someone to sell me a “SIM owner details” lookup service?
No. Any service or website claiming it can return a stranger’s SIM owner name, address, or CNIC from a phone number is operating illegally, and both the seller and the buyer risk liability under PECA 2016, Section 16. Genuine identity tracing can only be carried out by law enforcement under a formal investigation.
Can overseas Pakistanis check their SIM ownership details?
Yes. The cnic.sims.pk portal works worldwide with no app or login, and PTA reports roughly 60% of its web-based portal queries already come from overseas Pakistanis. PTA also runs a separate online facility, reachable via its website or an operator’s website, letting overseas Pakistanis regularise or block extra connections against their CNIC.
